‘You Know His Name‘, the tagline reads. And by now, after five films spanning fourteen years, it’s safe to say that Matt Damon’s dangerous and determined Jason Bourne is a household name. However Jason Bourne is not a movie that relies entirely on bankability, tropes or gratuitous action sequences. With director Paul Greengrass at the helm once again, we follow Bourne’s story into the age … Continue reading Review: Jason Bourne
For me, what was perhaps the most remarkable thing about Finding Dory┬áwas that its story flowed so effortlessly without the need of a villain. Like its previous instalment ÔÇô Finding Nemo ÔÇô the sole focus of the film were the characters and their predicament, which was interesting enough to make you forget the lack of a villain in the first place. Out of all the … Continue reading Review: Finding Dory
Adults would say Roald DahlÔÇÖs books are for children and only children. They believe that the worlds of a telekinetic child, a chocolate factory, talking foxes, giant peaches, and so on, are only substantial for children who have not yet ÔÇô in the adultsÔÇÖ eyes ÔÇô realised that Miss Honeys do not exist and foxes indeed cannot talk. However, for the few grown ups who … Continue reading Review: The BFG
Before you venture into this review of Star Trek Beyond, I must warn you that I am NOT a ÔÇÿTrekkieÔÇÖ. If there was a scale that measured how much of a Trekkie I was, IÔÇÖd probably be sliding at a graceful speed away from ÔÇÿbarely a fanÔÇÖ. To sum up, IÔÇÖm not that fussed on the universe, albeit I still seem to end up in … Continue reading Review: Star Trek Beyond
ÔÇ£Are you a watcher or a player?ÔÇØ is the hook for the new 2016 film, Nerve, starring Emma Roberts and Dave Franco. In this mind-twisting, edge-of-your-seat thriller, a shy high school teen, Vee (Emma Roberts) finds herself playing an online game of truth or dare without the truth. The game has the audience pulled in with what seems like an innocent dare -Vee has to … Continue reading Review: Nerve
Directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber, of Dodgeball fame, Central Intelligence┬áis surprisingly not terrible. The odd-couple film introduces us to┬ápopular and successful jock Calvin┬á(Kevin Hart), and brutally teased and overweight Robbie (Dwayne Johnson) at an end-of-high-school assembly. The year ends well for Calvin, receiving the ‘most likely to succeed award’, but badly for Robbie who is embarrassed in front of all his peers by some bullies, … Continue reading Review: Central Intelligence
Quench editor Beau Beakhouse headed down to London to speak with Richard Linklater, the Oscar nominated director, about his new film Everybody Wants Some!!┬áWatch the video here, or┬áhave a read of the transcript below. Quench: The first thing I wanted to ask is did you have a concrete vision going into the film that you wanted to create or was it in the production, where … Continue reading Interview: Richard Linklater on Everybody Wants Some!!
Don Cheadle (Iron Man) directs and stars in a Miles Davis biopic, that rids itself of all biopic clich├®s. Receiving mixed critical reviews, most likely due to its more experimental form and lack of easily processeable biographical information, Don Cheadle has created a film that captures the spirit of Miles Davis, some of what he stood for, his attitude and his music. It makes sense … Continue reading Miles Ahead Review
Directed by German director Sebastian Schipper, and shot by Sturla Brandth Gr├©vlen (Rams), Victoria is a German/English language film, shot in one continuous 138 minute take in real time. After winning awards at the Berlin Film Festival, and gaining a reputation for its daring shooting style, the film has reached a wider audience and received a strong critical reception. Opening to Victoria, the titular character, … Continue reading Victoria Review
Quench Video Games editor Tom Morris spends ninety minutes looking through the eyes of a killer cyborg, wondering why he doesn’t get to control him with a joystick. Hardcore Henry is less of a film and more like a LetÔÇÖs Play – that is, a first person playthrough of a hack-and-slash first person shooter game, except without commentary. The main character is ostensibly ÔÇ£you,ÔÇØ the … Continue reading Review: Hardcore Henry
Cardiff Independent Film Festival (CIFF)┬áis a showcase for┬áindependent filmmakers to exhibit both features and shorts. This year’s festival, between the 21-24th April at Chapter Arts Centre, will have a focus on some of the best independent animations from around the world, as well as documentaries, dramas and experimental film. Quench Film editor Sadia Pineda Hameed gives you a preview of just some of the exciting … Continue reading CIFF 2016 Preview
Each month, Quench looks at a different director’s selected filmography. We take a look at Richard Linklater┬áfor MarchÔÇÖs online feature. Born in Houston Texas, Richard Linklater came to filmmaking later than some. He discovered filmmaking as his creative art form around his early twenties, initially writing short stories and plays. LinklaterÔÇÖs early films and many of his larger subsequent releases are often situated in and … Continue reading Spotlight: Richard Linklater
The UK has gone from having only four documentary feature films released in cinemas in 2001 to 89 by 2013. With screenings of feature-length documentaries in mainstream cinemas rising in popularity, Sadia Pineda Hameed asks what attracts us to the dramas of reality. Why is it so exciting, humorous and mildly tragic to watch Hands on a Hard Body, a documentary about an endurance competition … Continue reading Reel Life
An Academy Award, less formally known as an Oscar, is the most prestigious award an actor can hope to get. To someone whoÔÇÖs lived under a rock their whole life, a small gold figure on a pedestal may not seem like a lot, but theyÔÇÖre widely coveted by many in the film industry; film-makers and actors alike. Only the cr├¿me de la cr├¿me can hope … Continue reading Not So Black and White: Inequality in Hollywood
So far this year our director spotlight has been, for lack of a better term, a bit of a sausage fest. This wasnÔÇÖt an intentional decision, but more to do with the fact that the number of renowned female film directors with enough films to fill this double-page can be counted on one hand; a hand that has a few fingers missing at that. Last … Continue reading Spotlight: Sophia Coppola
We look into the way violent media is blamed on violent crimes and if there’s a real reason to worry. Everybody watches films. Not everybody shoots a child. A bit of an obvious statement you might think, but when it comes to violence in the media, everybody seems to have a PhD in Sociology. It seems as if every other week the news informs us … Continue reading Films as Scapegoats: Violence in the Media
As a kid my life centred around cartoons; every day before taking the harrowing steps to school, watching Cartoon NetworkÔÇÖs fantastic line of programming would fill me with determination. The vibrancy of creativity in the shows would constantly blur the line between ‘child-friendly’ and ‘adult content’. In recent years I have watched episodes of Courage the Cowardly Dog via Netflix and realised the extent complex … Continue reading Cartoons for Adults
Between 17-21 February, Quench editors Beau Beakhouse and Sadia Pineda Hameed went along to the 6th BFI Future Film Festival. It was five amazing days┬ápacked full of workshops, panels and keynote speeches led by influential figures in the film industry today, film screenings and networking opportunities all aimed at 16-25 year old aspiring filmmakers. Here’s┬ásome of the highlights On the Festival Circuit With speakers from … Continue reading BFI Future Film Festival
It remains a sad fact of life in the UK that the only cultures most of us have any notion of are our own and that of the United States, the dominant film-making force of the English-speaking world. One of the biggest Anglo countries, Australia, has remarkably few famous films, except for maybe Crocodile Dundee, Mad Max, andÔǪ their sequels. ThatÔÇÖs about all. As a … Continue reading Review: The Smuggler
Gr├¡mur H├íkonarson’s Icelandic film Rams is a darkly comic and at times heartbreaking tale about sheep. The film tells of two feuding brothers, Gummi and Kiddi (Sigur├░ur Sigurj├│nsson and Theod├│r J├║l├¡usson), living in the isolated Icelandic Valleys. They are bitterly competitive when it comes to the local best ram prize, however must put their grudges aside when a threat of scrapie disease puts both their … Continue reading Review: Rams
